Japanese chopsticks manners to follow

Japan takes chopsticks seriously, so there are some basic chopsticks manners to follow when visiting this beautiful country.

Though Japanese people usually tend to forgive you when you make mistakes using chopsticks, you are highly expected to learn the manners before visiting the country. Making new friends and winning business with the Japanese will be easier if you know the manners, even a little.

Eating with chopsticks is an art and is not easy, even Japanese people struggle with perfecting it. Today we’ll share simple chopsticks manners to follow when traveling to Japan!

Hold your chopsticks perfectly

Though it sounds easy, holding your chopsticks correctly and perfectly is the most difficult and time consuming compared to other manners. Practice makes perfect, so make sure to use chopsticks when eating your food at home!

The picture above provides you a step-by-step instruction on how to use chopsticks.

Don’t place your chopsticks vertically into your rice

Known as “tatebashi”, you should never place your chopsticks vertically into your rice as it is said to bring bad luck, and is also reminds people of a custom practiced in Japanese funerals, where family prepares a bowl of rice with chopsticks standing vertically inside it.

Make sure to eat your food from your plates

Japanese people share food and most of them are served as common dishes. Make sure to take your food and eat them from your plates, don’t you ever eat them directly from the common dishes!

Don’t browse with your chopsticks

Hovering food with your chopsticks is called as “mayoi bashi”, this one is considered as greedy. Make up your mind before picking up your food!

Use the chopsticks rest

Most Japanese restaurants provide chopsticks rest, which you can use to rest your chopsticks when you’re not using it. A chopsticks rest won’t be provided if you’re using disposable chopsticks, but you can make one using the chopsticks wrappers.

Don’t lick or bite  your chopsticks

Licking (neburi bashi) or licking (kami bashi) the end of your chopsticks are not only considered as rude, but also dirty.

Don’t pass your food with chopsticks

Never pass your food with chopsticks because this resembles a custom at Japanese funerals when cremated bones are ceremoniously transferred to the urn. Considered as one of the biggest taboos at the Japanese dinner table, passing food from chopsticks to chopsticks is called Hiroibashi or utsushibashi. So, make sure to transfer the food to someone else’s plates.

You can also ask the staff to bring you another chopsticks to be placed at the center of the table for others to use.

Chopsticks are not a toy

Chopsticks are not a toy, so you should only use it to pick up your food. Never stab your food with your chopsticks (sashibashi), drag your food using your chopsticks (yosebashi), cross your chopsticks and leave it on top of your bowl (watashibashi), and moving your chopsticks and waving them around while talking (odoribashi).

Don’t dig food with your chopsticks

Use chopsticks to take the top part of the food, and make sure to not dig it with your chopsticks.

Don’t cross your chopsticks on the table

You should never cross your chopsticks on the table as it represents a custom practiced in Japanese funeral. Make sure to rest your chopsticks on a chopsticks rest.

Don’t stir your soup with your chopsticks

Though you might want to do this to dissolve your  miso soup, you should never do this as people around you might think you are playing with the food. Stirring your soup with your chopsticks is called “saguribashi”.

Eating with chopsticks is not easy, but it’s a matter of practice and awareness. You don’t have to be perfect at using it, and you can always ask Japanese people to teach you how to use it. However, still, it’s much better for you to know the chopsticks manners before visiting Japan!